Mediterranean Boss, Convenient Mistress

Charlie shrugged. ‘Maybe…’

‘But not with Mr Dreamboat?’

‘Definitely not.’ She smiled at him.

Marco reached across and turned the radio off. ‘So how does this internet dating service work? Do you get to see photos of the people you can date?’

‘Yes, not that it helps much. My dates’s photo must have been at least ten years out of date.’ She glanced over at him teasingly. ‘Why? Are you thinking of trying it yourself?’

‘Not this week,’ he said sardonically and instantly she wished she hadn’t made the joke. Of course, Marco wouldn’t need to look on the internet for a date—unless he was running an experiment for one of his books! But for Charlie, who didn’t go out to socialise a lot—partly because she had to arrange baby-sitters, and partly because she didn’t really like the nightclub or smoky-bars scene—it was a practical solution. ‘It’s just a bit of fun,’ she said with a shrug. But her tone was defensive now.

‘Is it?’

‘Yes, of course.’

‘So you aren’t looking for a serious relationship?’

The gently asked question seemed to echo inside her in a very strange way. She had to admit that recently she had been feeling lonely and when she looked around the world suddenly seemed made up of couples. She missed the intimacy of a relationship…not just the sex but the tenderness and warmth and the feeling that someone was there for her.

Not that her ex-husband had ever really been there for her. They had only been married for twelve months when she had fallen pregnant and, although Greg initially seemed to be pleased, she had soon discovered this wasn’t the case.

At the time they had been living in an apartment and had decided to look around and buy a house…something, as Greg put it, more ‘child-friendly’. They had found what they were looking for pretty quickly, the ideal property; a beautiful old cottage out in the countryside.

Charlie had been ecstatic, full of dreams and plans for the future. But although their offer was accepted she had never got her dream cottage. As soon as their apartment was sold Greg had left her, taking half the money from the sale with him.

The shock had been immense. She had loved Greg and believed that he loved her, and she had never suspected for one moment that he wanted out of the marriage. Left alone and pregnant, she’d known there was no way she could afford to buy the cottage on her own, and the sale had dropped through.

So, no, she couldn’t lie to herself—Greg had never been there for her…and he certainly had never bothered with Jack. That hurt more than anything.

She suddenly remembered how the other day she had seen the man next door taking his son out to play football and how for some reason it had made her eyes prickle with tears. But it had just been PMT, she told herself quickly.

She shook her negative thoughts away and answered Marco’s question. ‘I don’t think I want a serious relationship right now, but if someone special came along in the future that would be nice.’ Charlie pulled down the visor of the car to cut the glare of sun that was so low in the sky it was shining straight into her eyes like a light of interrogation. ‘Apart from anything, there are times when I think Jack needs a dad.’ The words slipped out almost without her being conscious of saying them.

‘Doesn’t Jack see his father?’

‘Not really…an occasional phone call and birthday card…’ She glanced over at Marco and suddenly felt completely self-conscious when she found he was watching her with a very serious expression in his eyes. Why was she telling him this? It was none of his business! ‘However, he’s no great loss,’ she added hastily. ‘And I like my independence. I’d certainly rather be on my own than in a bad relationship.’

‘Very wise,’ Marco said with a nod.

‘Anyway, I’m distracting you from your work,’ she said briskly, trying to change the subject. ‘You should be reading your notes.’

‘Yes, I suppose I should.’

Silence descended between them. Charlie felt awkward now as he shuffled through papers. She wished she hadn’t had that conversation. She had to work with the guy and it was always best to keep personal conversations to a minimum and maintain a cool and businesslike front. The strange thing was that recently she had been finding that more and more difficult. Marco was very easy to talk to…but then he would be, she thought suddenly; he was trained to get people to open up and reveal their innermost feelings.

After a few moments she felt his eyes resting on her again. Why did she feel that he was looking at her with closer attention than usual? She glanced over at him questioningly.

‘Sorry, was I staring?’ He shook his head. ‘I just realised that you are not wearing your spectacles. Don’t you need them for driving?’

‘No, it’s OK.’ She smiled and looked back at the road. ‘I’m not going to crash the car. I’m glad to say I only need them in the office for the close paperwork and the computer.’

‘You look different without them.’

‘I know…they don’t suit me, do they?’

‘Actually—’

Charlie was glad that the ring of Marco’s phone interrupted the conversation at that moment. She didn’t want him to politely lie and tell her that her glasses did suit her because in retrospect it sounded as if she had been fishing for compliments, which certainly wasn’t the case.

She watched out of the side of her eye as he took the phone from his inside jacket pocket and flipped it open.

‘Hi, Sarah; where the heck are you?’ he demanded. ‘Really?’ He smiled. ‘No, Charlie was good enough to drive me in. We’ll be about twenty minutes.’ He listened for a moment to something she had to say. ‘I don’t think that will be a problem because I’ve done the research. The facts speak for themselves.’ Marco’s voice held a dry edge now. He was clearly irritated by something. ‘We’ll talk about it later…OK?’ Then he hung up.

‘Problems?’ Charlie asked, overcome with curiosity.

‘Yes, the problem is that sometimes Sarah can be very irritating,’ he said tersely.

Those were Charlie’s sentiments exactly, but she wondered what Sarah had said to aggravate Marco. The pair usually seemed to get on so well, sometimes almost sickeningly so. Many times Charlie had watched as Sarah fawned over him, agreeing with his every word, fluttering her eyelashes coyly and then basking in his attention. There was no doubt in Charlie’s mind that the woman fancied the pants off him, and Marco had never seemed averse to the attention.

They had left the motorway now and Charlie followed the signs for the city centre. ‘You need to turn left down here,’ Marco said as they approached a busy junction.

‘Where is Sarah anyway?’ Charlie asked as she negotiated the traffic.

‘She’s had a crisis on her hands. Apparently one of her celebrity clients has confronted her husband’s mistress in the lingerie department of Harrods and has been arrested for making a public disturbance.’

‘Really?’

Marco nodded. ‘Sarah’s had to rush down to the police station to get her out before the Press get wind of it.’

‘Never a dull moment in her profession.’

‘You can say that again. Yesterday she was trying to talk me into getting married, or at least getting into a monogamous long-term relationship.’

Charlie shot him a startled look. She was so surprised she nearly ran a red light and just put the brakes on in time.

‘It’s her latest business idea apparently.’

‘A business idea?’ Charlie was nonplussed.

‘Yes. As you know, my book is due to be released in America soon and I’m going on tour to promote it. It’s already getting a lot of coverage; magazines and chat shows are discussing my ideas. So it should shoot in high in the book charts.’

‘That’s good. But I still don’t see where Sarah’s idea fits in with this.’

‘Sarah thinks that the fact that I am a bachelor will substantially affect sales. And that I might not make the number-one slot because of it.’

‘That’s ridiculous. It’s a scientific book, not one written from a personal angle. It uses statistics, case studies and research projects.’

‘Exactly. I said all this to Sarah last night. But she still thinks that if I were committed to someone it would give the book vital credence. We had quite a disagreement about it.’